Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Fiance and I are all moved in and working like real adults and all, one hour commute on the way home plus 4 days a week in the gym = not much time to actually cook real food! The temptation to pick up junk food on the way home is way to easy. So.....how do you have time to work, drive home, work out, and still manage to have a healthy home cooked meal for dinner?!

CROCK POT!

So I've been scouring the internet world and several cook books to find easy to prepare, healthy, and so easy to put together in the mornings I have no excuse to put it in the crock pot in the morning before I leave in the morning!!

Here is my theory on crock potting - pick out 4-6 recipes make your shopping list, including some freezer bags, spend 2-3 hours chopping and preparing the meals (and make a mess of your kitchen) then throw them all in the freezer and call it a day!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

I'm back! So since my last post a few important things have happened...I moved back home to Houston, completed my 3rd and final year of my Master's in Physician Assistant studies, graduated, took my national certification exam, and have a job....whoa right?!?!

Also Nick and I will be moving into a place somewhere in Houston closer to both of our jobs, and new place means I can again establish a sewing room...or area at least. Which means more fun crafty tutorials for you guys!! YAY!!

Over the last year I've been doing my clinical rotations throughout Texas, I spent some time in San Antonio, Tomball, College Station, Downtown Houston, and various other places....what that means is ALL of my stuff, except for a suitcase of clothes/shoes was in storage, including all of my fabric and crafting supplies ... GASP! Can you imagine a whole year of sewing withdrawal - oh the horror.

So stay tuned, because hopefully very soon my sewing machine, fabric and I will be re-united and we can get this craftiness started!!

Until then, I miss you all and can't wait to see what you have been up to as well!!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Through various trial and errors I've learned the ins and outs of Vistaprint.com

What's that you say, never heard of it?!?! Basically it is a website that specializes in anything printed or customized for businesses or families. Everything from custom invitations, thank you cards, t-shirts, totes, business cards, post cards, etc.

It is awesome if you are planning parties and want custom items for cheap (but still pretty good quality), custom Christmas/Holiday cards, Custom gifts (t-shirts, hats, mugs, mouse pads, pens, etc) for friends and family members for birthday's or holidays, or if you have a business that you are trying to get off the ground!!

As you guys know, Nick and I are planning for our wedding for November 2012, and I'm a thrifty grad student with some extra time on my hands and money that needs to be saved.

I just want to give you my current tally of Vistaprint purchases so you can get an idea of how amazing they are.

Through 8 separate orders, I bought the following:

2 "Just Married" Car magnets

10 Custom Tote Bags

100 Folded Note Cards (Thank you cards)

280 Address Labels

1 Grooms shirt

25 Kiddo Activity Brochures.

10 Pages of Matching Letter Head

100 Custom "Save The Date" Postcards

2 Pens

2 Sticky Notes Pads

2 Note Pads

2 Notebooks

Normally all of this would have cost about $480
But I only paid $76.94

Awesome right?!?!

Here are a few pictures of the items

Okay so you want to know how I did it right??

Everything I bought was free, I just had to pay shipping and handling. Okay, yes I know you don't believe me, but I promise it is true!!

First I went to this website -- a fellow blogging bride, and learned some tips and tricks from her. She has a "sample email" page that has a bunch of links to vistaprint for free stuff.

If you want to buy two of the same thing (ie 2 tote bags) but you don't want to pay S&H twice, design one through the "Business" section, and another through the "Home & Family" section, they have different product numbers, but they are the same product.

Set up an account with them, and leave several items in your cart at all times, they will send you money saving coupons to your email reminding you of the items in your cart

If you buy several orders within a day or two of each other, they will put them all in one box, so if you need it fast pay for express shipping for one order, then standard or slow shipping for the rest -- they will combine the slow ship items into the fast ship box.

Design your own logos and images for a truly custom product (Nick's Groom shirt I designed via Google images and Microsoft publisher). Save the logo as an image, and you can upload it (most of the time for free). If you are unsure about how to save a file as an image you can always take a "screen shot" of it (PC users = windows logo + "S") it automatically puts it into Microsoft OneNote, you can then save the image as a photo.

I've notice that if I design multiple free items that are all in my cart, after a few days they go back to original price -- to fix this "remove" items from your cart, then go to your portfolio under my account, and "order" them again. This usually restores the prices back to "free"

You can also close the window, and re-open vistaprint through this web address:
www.vistaprint.com/winter2011

I'll keep you guys updated on any other awesome vistaprint deals I find!!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Nothing fun to show you today, I have to do boring stuff, like tailor some ($11) dress pants I got while home in Houston AND study for my pharmacology exam that is in 6 days (eek!)

However I do want to share this little tidbit with you...especially for all you coffee drinkers.
I found this a while back and just had to share!

Caffeine is my shepherd; I shall not doze.
It maketh me to wake in green pastures:
It leadeth me beyond the sleeping masses.
It restoreth my buzz:
It leadeth me in the paths of consciousness for its name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of addiction,
I will fear no Equal™:
For thou art with me; thy cream and thy sugar they comfort me.
Thou preparest a carafe before me in the presence of The Starbucks:
Thou anointest my day with pep; my mug runneth over.
Surely richness and taste shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the House of Mochas forever.
~Author Unknown

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, I'm going to attempt to recreate my Grandpa's "big and tall" blanket for my Aunt...perhaps I'll remember to take pictures so I can share!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

If you are anti-wedding, turn away now because there is about to be a wedding explosion!

Nick and I are getting married 11.3.12, and in Texas the Fall isn't really a big deal, we don't have fall color changes in the trees, everything just kinda turns brown and falls off

Our colors are fall colors with an emphasis on Maroon (We are Aggies of course we are going to have a maroon wedding!). We decided to go with a "Live Oak" themed wedding because at Texas A&M University we have a Century Tree, that is believed to be well over 100 years old. It is just beautiful and it is a common Aggie tradition to walk under the tree with one you love and you will be with them for eternity....so of course Nick and I visited the Century Tree

The following are "inspiration collages" for our wedding

Centerpieces

Ceremony Decor

Wedding Favors, and Gift bags for out of town guests

This is a snap shot of the inspiration we liked best

(also sneak peek of our save the date)

I promise I wont blog about wedding stuff again for awhile...it is just so exciting!!! Back to crafting!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Here are a few pictures of some custom onesies I made for a close friend of mine who had her handsome little bundle of joy over the summer. His name is Weston, and I made three long sleeved 6-9 mos onesies, and three 9-12 mos onesies so he could wear some now and later on when he gets a bit bigger.

By far my most favorite!!

His Daddy is an airtraffic controller so I thought an airplane would be just perfect!

Here is the little guy modeling his new fancy tie onesie!! Isn't he just the cutest?!

Here is another one of Weston ***NOTE***No music was playing in the headphones

So these onesies were pretty straight forward, I didn't take any pictures of the process but I think I can talk you through it!

Materials:

Onesies (duh)

Computer/printer/paper to print off pictures

Light weight interfacing

Fabric scraps

Iron

Pinking shears

Sewing machine

Matching Thread

2-3 hours

How to:

First find some "clip art" style pictures by googling images you are interested in, such as Tiara, Cat, Train, Car, Tie, etc. Be sure there aren't too many skinny parts in the picture or intricate turns that may be hard to do on a standard sewing machine

Print pictures off, estimate if it is the right size for the onesies (this may take a couple tries)

Take similar size scrap of material and interface it FIRST

Then trace pattern, and cut with pinking shears to prevent major fraying

Pin on onesie, making sure it is centered

Sew using a medium sized straight stitch, making sure to lock your stitches.

You can add detail by zig-zagging (see airplane above)

To make a truly custom baby gift, make a small blanket, quilt, burp rags, or nursing cover using the same material! Quick and easy to throw together!